I remember it well.

Even by lofty '73 standards, this show is truly epic. Obviously, the jam suite of Truckin>(Nobody's Fault) Jam>TOO, the latter of which clocks in at a Europe '72-esque 31 min, is exquisite. These Pac NW shows were all great though--some of the Dead's best touring moments.

This SBD isn't too bad. I've heard better and I've heard a whole lot worse. The Bird Song in this source is just spectacular. Never heard anything quite like it. Keith and Jer are prominant in the mix and nail it. I walked into the room while it was half way through, and I thought "Dark Star in the first set? That can't be right?" I swear I thought it was Dark Star for two or three minutes. For a moment it also reminded me of Jerry's last few notes in "Blows Against The Empire." Just spectacular! Overall, the other AUD source is my choice, though there is the inconsistancy of the tape fading in and out at the beginning of the show.

This is a great concert to listen to, nice and long with a lot of the buzz that made 73 such a great year. Like others have said the version of Bird Song is simply sublime. Although worth mentioning is the China Cat/Uncle John's Band Jam which is awesome. The jam coming out of Truckin is also really nice, I can hear elements of 'Nobody's Spoonful Jam' in it, which I haven't actually heard anywhere outside of the Aoxomoxoa version.

Beautiful mellow version of Bird Song. One for the ages!!! My first show was Boston 9/17/82 but man how I wish I was at this monsterous show. Totally mind blowing!!!

this show doesn't really pick up until bird song, but what a version! have to agree with many of the other reviewers on it being one of the all time best. for me personally, i think it is now my 2nd or 3rd favorite after 8/27/72 (is there really a better one? if so someone please enlighten me!) i could write about it for hours; the interplay between phil and jerry (and the whole band really) is just sweet as can be. keith's organ durring the verses is beautiful. and check out jerry's riff around the 10:00 mark...wow

on to the rest of the show...phil is a force throughout; he's all over a great HCS, and he has some PHAT FUNKY BOMBS durring the UJB-like jam of a really unique china>rider.
playing in the band is also really unique, although the pre-jam verses are kind of a mess. but they make up for it with a wonderfull, spacy jam that is really interesting.

the second set from black peter on is DYNAMITE. BP is heartbreaking, and the truckin>nobody's is just SICK with some soulful guitar. TOO is awesome and mellow, and the aud patch comes at the perfect time durring the free form parts, the echoyness really makes it even trippier! wharf rat is short but sweet and sugar mag really rocks.

this is really one of the best of the year for me. personally, i'd take the best moments of this and 6/10 over 5/26 which is really good but a bit overrated imho.

I haven't hit this site in a long, long time. Work, life, busy, other audio sources, yada, yada. Had a brief conversation today with a guy I know about New Year's 1981 (Oakland, Dark Star, real nice...). So tonight, thought I would listen to a bit of it...ended up here. Decided to check out this show because I was already here, and it is what it is, incredible! Ran through the various copies...and started reading reviews. Then noticed a review left here on December 18, 2006...by me! Well that was three years ago TODAY. How weird is that? I think that's somewhat cosmic, like this show. Still waiting to for another jam like the one I refer to below to surface...if you know of one, post it. WOW!

The guy asking pigpen for the acid must have been asking the heavens because the ole' man was dead. RIP.

Ok, I dont think anyone else has pointed this out yet. While the band is tuning up for Bird Song there is a guy in the audience (i believe) asking quite loudly, "hey, you guys got any acid?". No reply. So he tries again, this time he asks louder and direct his question to Pigpen, "Pigpen you got any acid?!!". Awesome, just awesome.

I am stingy with the 5 star ratings, because if I am not, it becomes meaningless. But this would be a 4.7 easy. I love this Playin in the Band- and most everything else I have heard. Quality is amazing for this time period

And is the Phil solo in the scond set the longest any one has ever heard?

All this time later and so much more listening under my belt- I am changing this to a 5 - and it is well worth it- still love the PITB- but now I am wowed by the HCSunshine- top 3 for me for sure

Magnificent!

I Have TO agree with all the other great reviews of this show. I got this on cassette in the middle 70's and wore it out. Every song is relaxed but brilliant. Bird Song ,HCS, Playing,Truckin-OO all are incredible versions. If I could have one show to take to Venus this would be it. Much Aloha to the Band and all who make this possible.

This is one of the desert island shows for me. Yes, the Bird Song is incredible. Yes, the He's Gone is incredible (the outro!). Yes, the segue jamming is incredible and inspired.

But has everyone listened closely to the Black Peter? Seriously. That is the key to understanding what makes this show so amazing. The music between the notes. Phil's harmonies on the bridge. The tenderness, people. Touch the tenderness.

This is just some really fine listening, with just a couple of very minorly annoying splices. Lots of high points...He's Gone being among them.
4 for the splices. 5 for the show.

Great show either way, the AUD definitely captures this one perfectly in a way the Board cannot.

Haven't heard this in years, and wow, what a memory! About 25 years ago I discovered this tape and in amongst all the incredible music one moment has always stood out to my ears. There is a jam after Phil's solo that is very distinct. About 8:30 into this jam it gets absolutely SUBLIME and the next minute or is one of the most unique, complex and totally remarkable pieces of jazzy improvisation the band ever produced (IMO, of course). I cannot recall in all of the thousands of tapes and recordings I've heard anything that even remotely sounds like this moment in time. It is out there...If anybody knows of any jam where they fell into something similar, I'd be very interested to know about it. Enoy this incredible recording!

I find this show very listenable, it's nastalgic to me not cause I was there ( i wasn't) but because it's one i had on cassette about 10 years ago, and lost, and it's great to reconnect, can you relate?
The P.N.E. stands for Pacific National Exibition, an event held every summer at a dedicated ground on the east side of Vansterdam, I googled a poster for the show online, which reads May 5th? wonder what happened, Also of interest the poster showed a picture of Jerry,Bob,Phil,Billy&Keith, no Donna? same pic on other posters that year. The Festival express in 1970 never pushed west of Calgary so perhaps this was the make up gig. This is IMO the difinitive Canadian Show, wish they would have crossed the boarder more often.

The Playing is Great,
this is the Bird Song of the Year, the Box of Rain is the version i hear in my head, and the Sunshine is ripe. He's gone moves well, as it did all year, and the patch in the other one is not as bad as some would lead you to believe.

Oh ya and they played Black Peter, cosider this, BP was preformed once in europe72 and only 12 times after, and about 6 or so in 1977, and how many are monstershows/dick's picks???

Happy to share with some good listeners, email me at fieldhouse11277@hotmail.com

this show is truly magical, a fitting solstice for this fine year. This matrix sounds amazing 33 years later, thank you Sean Cribbs

Well...the reviews below confirm what I thought: a legendary Birdsong, a top 5 Playin'..., a Super good Truckin'--->Other One--->Jam--->Phil Solo--->Jam--->Other One---> and so on 'til the end of show, including a Sug Mags--->Sunshine Daydream that I 95% blowoff- But not here.
PK Listen- the soundboard is NOT available (which I agree with the Dead's change in policy: it's their legacy and we still have most of the auds as ours- cool?, so you MUST download this show. Is it just me but the PA+room acoustics mix together to sound like something like heaven. Seriously- check out Birdsong to confirm.
One of the best available GD shows hands down currently available for download. Thanks Bobby, Phil, Bill and Mickey!!

'73 is one of my favorite years, and although I do not think that this show ranks among the tops for that year (look to February for those shows)-it warrants sampling for listerner's preference, and that having been said, I vastly prefer the SBD over the Audio version.

Many moons ago I had an aud copy of the jam from this show always loved it. Finally hearing a SBD confirms just how good this is. Don't worry about the aud splice in The Other One. It's VERY well done, and besides, other than getting the aud version of this show, what choice do you have? You're not passing this one up! Donna doesn't ruin Sunshine Daydream as much as she might have, and the Sugar Magnolia is one of the best. You can almost see the waves of bouncing heads. A high 4 stars.

This is a show I've wondered about for years, only seeing it on high gen tapes, and then with lots of rumors of noise, buzz, etc. So I never pursued a copy, not wanting to be disappointed. Being that it's the next show after 6/10, and the fact they'd had almost 2 weeks off to get re-charged, I just KNEW it had to be a monster show. Finally, LAMA to the rescue!
Let me say right off that those looking for pristine Wall of Sound quality will not find it here. The first two discs have many AUD splices, cuts and volume variations (mostly too low on most songs). However, it's certainly tight and inspired playing throughout. The 16 minute Bird Song and lively versions of Jack Straw and Big River are highlights for me. Plus the Playin, while not breaking any new ground, is well jammed at 21 minutes and will get you THERE nontheless.
But on Disc 3 and 4 things improve dramatically. First off, the volume is higher, with almost crystal clean sound all the way through. They burst out of the gate with a strong HC Sunshine, and the intensity never lets up. Even the Promised Land is good! A Black Peter?? Wow, an extra treat. And the He's Gone> Truckin >Nobody's Jam is very energetic and in your face. So how can they top that? With a 30 minute Other One, that's how! One of the best mellow versions of this for 1973 I think. Jerry never runs out of creative ideas, and Phil plays more like a 3rd guitar player with great dexterity and tone. This one is for nighttime, some candles, a lava lamp and some, uh, special refreshments!
The only bummer here is the AUD splice in the Other One from 22 minutes until the end. But what a great AUD recording! You almost don't notice, and then you don't care it sounds so clean. Now you'll understand why some folks go nuts over AUD tapes. This one makes you feel like you're on the third row, with nice crowd reactions to the magic onstage. Listening to this while blotto - you'll probably just think you changed diminsions during the AUD portion.
The beautiful Wharf Rat brings us back onstage with super-clean SBD that sounded like Garcia was sitting in my living room. Finish it off with a blazing Sugar Magnolia where Jerry and Bobby just wear it out, and you've got yourself one classic 1973 show.
A must have for the year, folks. Four discs of incredible music! Get it before they release it or something, ha ha.
enjoy,
Dr. Flashback ;-)

...the remaining artifacts from the composite sound source won't bother you too much. And as others have said, a peaceful, joyful show.

This is without a doubt one of the most electrifying shows that I've heard. Tops 3 of the 70's! Audience patches fill the holes beautifully. Music from this concert will STONE you! Get it Pronto....

In my humble opinion...
This show is absolutly amazing. If you like turning the lights down low and laying back and mellowing out, than you absolutly, definitly, positivly have to hear this show. Phil is really creative (even by his standards), Jerry is humble and gentle, and everybody else lays it down tightly and creatively. It's great music to zone into. The mix is perfect for almost the entire show (except for some rude patches).

I'm totaly suprised that more folks aren't raving about this show. Not to compare, BUT it's better than June 10, 1973. I hope you try this show.

at a nine minute China Cat. If you needed convincing of Weir's ability to play lead, check in around 4:40. Garcia sits, while Weir carries the tune. The sound is beautifully separated. At 5:20 Weir rattles off the descending, three chord transitional lick (12th fret C-G-D), and turns it back to Garcia at six minutes. A minute later we enter what a friend called "the feeling groovy licks," which is based on the UJB chords. A nice, dreamy, heartfelt surprise before moving into Rider.

Another highlight here is the Here Comes Sunshine....a lot to choose from in 1973, this could be a 5.

I've had this on tape for years from the urging of a repected Deadhead friend who attended the show and considered it one of their best. I never felt as strongly as he, but always enjoy it. Very loose and relaxed feel to their playing, Phil especially.